Emanuel de Witte (1617-1692)

Emanuel de Witte (1617–1692) was a Dutch perspective painter. In contrast to Pieter Jansz Saenredam, who emphasized architectural accuracy, De Witte was more concerned with the atmosphere of his interiors. Though few in number, de Witte also produced genre paintings.

De Witte was born in Alkmaar and learned geometry from his father, a schoolmaster. He joined the local Guild of St Luke in 1636. After a stay in Rotterdam, he moved to Delft and studied with Evert van Aelst.

In 1651 de Witte settled in Amsterdam where his first wife, Geerje Arents, died in 1655. He then married a 23-year-old orphan, Lysbeth van der Plas, who exercised a bad influence on de Witte’s adolescent daughter. In December 1659 both were arrested for theft from a neighbor. Lysbeth, pregnant, had to leave the city for a period of six years; she lived outside the city walls and died in 1663.

Following the arrest of his wife and child, de Witte was forced to indenture himself to the Amsterdam notary and art dealer Joris de Wijs, surrendering all of his work in exchange for room, board, and 800 guilders annually. De Witte broke the contract, was sued by the dealer, and forced to indenture himself further as a result. Several patrons provided de Witte with support, but these relations did not work out well, for he tended to shout at his clients and at people watching him at work in churches. Records tell of his gambling habit and a fight with Gerard de Lairesse. Around 1688 he moved in with Hendrick van Streeck, in exchange for training him as a painter of church interiors. According to Arnold Houbraken, after an argument about the rent, de Witte hanged himself from a canal bridge in 1692. The rope broke and de Witte drowned. Because the canal froze that night, his corpse was not found until eleven weeks later.

Interior of the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam, 1680.
De Witte initially painted portraits as well as mythological and religious scenes. After his move from Delft to Amsterdam in 1651 de Witte specialized more and more in representing church interiors, and he painted the old church in Amsterdam from almost every corner. He sometimes combined aspects of different churches to depict interiors of ideal churches, populating them with churchgoers, sometimes accompanied by a dog. De Witte’s excellent sense of composition combined with his use of light created atmospheres which seem honest and real. His theme may have been light and how it creates livable space.

Emanuel De Witte – Courtyard Of The Exchange In Amsterdam 1653

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Baroque Church Ca1660

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Calvinist Church Ca1660

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church (1)

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church (2)

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church (3)

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church With Elements Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam 1656

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church With Monks 1668

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church 1674

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church 1685

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church C 1680

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Church Ca1680

198VISO- 439 XVII

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Gothic Church 1679

BGMS De Witte Interior Of A Gothic Church

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Protestant Church With Gothic Motifs Of The Old And The New Church In Amsterdam 1669

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Protestant Church With Gothic Motifs Of The Old And The New Church In Amsterdam 1677

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Protestant Church With Gothic Motifs Of The Old And The New Church In Amsterdam 1680

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Protestant Church With Gothic Motifs Of The Old Church In Amsterdam 1669

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Protestant Church 1677

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of A Protestant Gothic Church 1668

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Amsterdam Church During A Sermons 1686

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Castle Chapel

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Choir Of St John’s Church In Utrecht From The Nave 1654

647TURNER-NONET 17

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Nieuwe Kerk In Amsterdam With The Tomb Of Michiel De Ruyter 1683

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Nieuwe Kerk In Amsterdam 1657

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Nieuwe Kerk In Amsterdam

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Nieuwe Kerk In Delft With The Tomb Of William The Silent 1653

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Nieuwe Kerk In Delft With The Tomb Of William The Silent 1656

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Nieuwe Kerk In Delft With The Tomb Of William The Silent Ca1651

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Nieuwe Kerk In Delft 1664

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Old Church In Amsterdam During A Service Ca1670

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Old Church In Amsterdam 1655

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Old Church In Amsterdam 1680

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Old Church In Delft, 1653 Or 1655

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Old Church In Delft 1642

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Old Church In Delft 1670s

About 1660

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam (2)

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam (3)

About 1660

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam From The North Aisle To The East

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam, Ca 1685

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam 1655

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam Ca 1653

LACMA, Emanuel De Witte, Interior Of The Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, C 1659

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam Ca1660

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Amsterdam Ca1660 Detal

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Delft During A Sermon 1651

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Delft During A Sermon 1651-52

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Delft During A Service 1660-65

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Delft, C 1680

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Delft, From The South Aisle To The Crossing, Towards The North-East, During The Preaching Of A Sermon 1669

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Delft 1650-52

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Delft 1650-52 Detal 1

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Oude Kerk In Delft 1650-52 Detal 2

Emanuel De Witte – Interior Of The Portuguese Synagogue In Amsterdam 1680

Emanuel De Witte – Interior With A Woman At The Virginals 1670’s

Emanuel De Witte – Kitchen Interior 1660s

198VISO- 438 XVII

Emanuel De Witte – Portrait Of A Family In An Interior 1678

About 1662

Emanuel De Witte – The Market In The Port 1680

Emanuel De Witte – The New Fishmarket In Amsterdam 1655

Emanuel De Witte – The New Fishmarket In Amsterdam 1678

Emanuel De Witte – The Nieuwe Kerk In Delft With The Tomb Of Willem The Silent C 1650-51